SITE-SPECIFIC ART EXPLORING HISTORY OF FORT HUMBOLDT TO BE INSTALLED IN EUREKA

New York-based, Eureka-raised artist Nick Hubbard will present a series of sculptural installations around town that engage with the history of Fort Humboldt. The works will be first set in place this coming Saturday, April 23, 2016. Some of the installations will disappear within a few days, other may take longer but they are all temporary.

A participatory event on Sunday, April 24, will accompany the installations. The artist will be on-site at Fort Humboldt, and citizens are invited to come and jointly build a collection of paper models of the fort buildings. These models will contain messages written by participants that will be shared back with the community over a timespan corresponding to the activity of the Fort.

The project, Through Various Hazards and Adventures We Move is derived from digital models constructed using documentary photographs of Fort Humboldt, utilizes 3D printing technology combined with traditional model-making, and takes the form of a series of expanded dioramas that change over time.

Nick Hubbard is currently a Master’s candidate at the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. Through Various Hazards is his thesis. For more information, contact the project at varioushazards@gmail.com or visit the project website, http://www.varioushazards.com.

There is one point I failed to include though and so want to share it here. This is from a post I did years ago, but it is just as important to remember now…

In the western movie, Broken Trail , there is a scene where Robert Duvall struggles to learn the names of five Chinese girls under his care. They speak no English and growing frustrated, Duvall’s character points to each one in turn and names them, “One, Two, Three, Four… “. The girls accept the names, because they have no choice.

The same thing happened here. When the white settlers arrived, they re “named” the native people. Smo-Wa became Henry Capell (he was from the village of Capell). Corn-no-wish became Weichpec Oscar. Zo-wish-wish, a Wiyot woman related to Lucy’s daughter, Annie, was also known as “Rose”.

The “Monkey Wards” (what my dad called it when I was growing up) on the right is certainly not the flat-roofed monstrosity I remember from when I was a kid (was located where Target is now for those who are newer to the area).

Nice to see that the Eureka Theater hasn’t really changed. Folks have actually been working for a while now to restore the theater and the volunteer effort is coming along quite nicely. Learn more about the restoration effort and how you can help HERE.